Running the TMB slowly!

 Mont Blanc from the Italian side

20 years ago I walked the Tour du Mont Blanc with CCOPS, my college outdoor pursuits society. It was a great trip but an 80 litre rucksack full of camping kit and 4 season boots meant it was a hard challenge spread over 11 days. In August 2012 a quick alpine break allowed us to trot around the classic 110 mile circuit in under 7 days with a tiny pack and fell shoes.We mixed and matched a few short days with a couple of monsters and took all the high level options we could. Lots more photos on my Flickr page.

Very little snow left on the high passes

Stunning scenery above Contamine

Great views of Mont Blanc on day 3

Mont Blanc from above Courmayer

The climb out on Courmayer

Approaching the Refuge Elena for the world's best chocolate chaud!

Climbing towards the final col

A friendly Ibex

The Aiguillle du Midi from Chamonix at journeys end

Reflections on the 2012 UTMB

Race founder Catherine Poletti addressing the crowds

An eventful year for the UTMB with the races significantly effected by poor weather for the third year in a row. The late change of the route meant that the challenge for the competitors was very different being only two thirds of the distance and ascent of the actual UTMB. For the leading athletes this would equate to a night race arriving back in Chamonix on Saturday morning. However only one percent of the nearly 2500 runners who'd registered opted not to race the new course.

UTMB 2012 winner Francois d'Haene

2012 UTMB Champion & 5 time winner Lizzie Hawker

The UTMB 2012 podium

Every athlete involved in the UTMB has a story to tell, a fact recognised by the organisers in their press conferences and which is very much part of their ethos. In a truly international competition there were eight countries represented in the top 10 competitors from the from both the mens and womens races.

The North Face athletes were having an interesting day at the office. Seb Chaigneau was always going to have a challenging event. Just 6 weeks ago he suffered a badly cut knee in a fall which required 25 stiches. Early on last night he fell again and cut the other knee. By argientiere his vision had deteriated to such an extent that he was packed off to hospital to get checked out. The good news is he's all fine

Zigor Iturrieta was running well when again a fall at Contamine in the tricky conditions robbed him of the chance of being competitive. In the spirit of the event he opted to walk the rest of the course finishing well down the order but having had an adventure as the organisers had promised.

 Lizzie Hawker at the awards ceromony

The day belonged to 'Queen Lizzie' who received the biggest cheer of the day as she stepped onto the stage to receive her cowbell for her fifth UTMB win. Earlier she'd look almost embarrassed as she explained she wasn't one hundred percent fit having battled injury this season. Nevertheless she was 16th overall, the first time a women has featured in the top twenty. Asked about her motivation to go for a 6th title the phrases top ten and course record were mentioned. 

There are three others events in the UTMB festival of ultra running. The longest is the PTL or La Petite Trotte a Leon. This multi day experience for teams packs in 290km and 22,000m of climbing. They'd been blessed with good conditions earlier in the week but this weekends weather system had laid down 40cm of snow at the Col de la Seine. Thinking outside the box a herd of cows were driven over the pass to create a track for a few of the teams!

 Dawa Sherpa facing the press

The TDS (Sur la Traces des Ducs de Savoiewas) won by the legendary Dawa Sherpa, winner of the very first UTMB and still the holder of the fastest time. Like the CCC but slightly harder this race also starts in Courmayeur but heads clockwise around the Mont Blanc massif to finish in Chamonix after 114km and 7150m of ascent.

Tofol Bernat (in white) leading the CCC field through Courmayeur

The CCC (Courmayeur - Champex - Chamonix) race featured many of the North Face UK Sales and PR team putting minds, bodies and kit to the test. The climb over the Col Grand Ferret in deep snow in very cold but windless conditions was certainly a memorable challenge. The course had been slightly shortened missing out the first and last climbs but this doesn't detract from the herculean effort of Tofol Bernat who raced back to Chamonix in under nine hours. His reward - the amazing experience of rounding the final corner and coming face to face with the whole UTMB field cheering him home, something that even twenty four hours later left him visibly moved.

 

A amazing event to be part of and it may have planted a small seed in my mind! Huge thanks to the team at North Face for the invitation to follow Jez Bragg and for a very memorable night out in the rain watching thousands of runners go through the experience of the UTMB. I hope the ladies at Geneva airport who were having a little competition counting the blue gillets, which were awarded to all finishers, realise what they really mean to thousands of runners.

Amazing scenes in Chamonix

  

The smiles and grimaces tell the story as these competitors make their way through the streets of Chamonix and the last few meters of the shortened Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 2012

  

 

 

  

 

 

 The finish line in sight

The drama is too much for some of the spectators!

UTMB 2012 round up

Waiting for the winner

A grey and cold Saturday has dawned in Chamonix with the cloud base even lower. In the half light Francois d'Haene loped across the line to a decisive UTMB victory, half an hour up on second placed Jonas Buud. A further 16 minutes back was Michael Foote who had made up a huge number of places in the last few kilometers. It was only after he crossed the line that he realised he'd achieved 3rd! In a great gesture Francois returned down the course to applaud a few CCC competitors he'd overtaken in his sprint finish.

Winner of the 2012 UTMB Francois d'Haene

 

Jonas Buud crosses the line in second place

Jonas Buud very happy with his performance

Michael Foote finding out he's on the podium

The story of the day belongs to Lizzie Hawker who has now won the race 5 times. After an indifferent season due to injury she felt the shortened course played into her hands and enjoyed a comfortable victory in 12:32:13 placing 16th overall despite not being fully fit. Comparing this time to her predicted splits on the origional UTMB route she'd still have been in the lead somewhere on the Col Grand Ferret struggling through deep snow! An amazing level of motivation to keep coming back to such a demanding event and perform at this level.

The indomitable Lizzie Hawker crossing the line

Facing the media with a smile!

Alongside the leading UTMB finishers, the CCC competitors continued to stream across the line, many overcome with emotion after having battled with the conditions for nearly 24 hours.

2012 midway race update

 Lizzie Hawker storming through Les Houches for the second time

Well it's been a long and soggy night with it's fair share of drama. The start was delayed as for the first time in the history of the event the winner of the CCC arrived in Chamonix before the start of the main event. Forcing his way to the line against a tide of 2800 fresh runners would have been a very cruel joke. In the end Spaniard Tofol Castaner Bernat triumphed in a stunning time of 8:57:04.

Tofol Bernat having his kit checked before the start of the CCC

Once the race was underway we drove up to St Gervais expecting to see Jez through in the leading pack. However a quick phone call revealed that he'd had a few problems and wasn't on his game so had opted to retire at St Gervais. He'd been with the leaders until the first climb from Les Houches where he slipped steadily back with nothing in the tank. A tough call but the right one in the circumstances. A hot toddy and crepe was just what the doctor ordered and he was back in Chamonix to see his fiancee Gemma complete her first CCC in 16:35.

With Jez out of the running we turned our focus on four time champion Lizzie Hawker who was having a good race. Lizzie is also on the North Face team having won the UTMB in 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2011 with a second in 2009. We watched her come back through Contamine in 24th place and 25 minutes up on her nearest rival while a stream of slower runners were still checking in for the first time. By Les Houches she was up to 17th with a number of other runners in her sights. We'll be back out again in a couple of hours to see her finish.

A special mention must go to the checkpoint staff in Les Houches who were keeping their spirits up, despite the rain, with plenty of singing and dancing. They were also offering bucket loads of support to every competitor. It created a really good atmosphere which was much appreciated after the chaos and a few grumpy marshals at St Gervais.

Leaving St Gervais in the rain with a long night ahead

 Very soggy conditions at St Gervais

 Would Sir like banana with that?

 The 1000 yard stare of the ultra distance runner

 

Lizzy at Contamine for the second time

History of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc

 Mont Blanc from Chamonix

2012 sees the 10th edition of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a 168km trail non stop trail run involving 9600m of ascent and descent which circumnavigates the highest mountain in Western Europe and visits France, Italy and Switzerland.

Although there are slight variations in the route each year the fastest winning time of 20:05 was set by Dachhiri Dawa Sherpa in the inaugural race in 2003. Coming from a background of cross country skiing he'd previously represented Nepal in two winter Olympics.

In 2003 there were just 700 racers. By 2012 there are now four different events with a limit of 2300 competitors attempting the original UTMB. The huge operation which takes over Chamonix is supported by an army of 2000 volunteers.

In the last few years the event has been dominated by Kilian Jornet Burgada who has won the three of the four races he has started (2008, 2009 & 2011). The 2010 was cancelled due to horrendous weather conditions but then restarted from Courmayeur a few hours later. The North Face athlete Jez Bragg would seize this opportunity to take a significant victory. 

Trail running and ultras are going from strength to strength and the UTMB organisers now feel that there are around 200 competitors who could challenge for a top twenty position.

Change of the UTMB route

From around 11:30am today by text and through a press conference at 2.30pm the UTMB organisers have explained their decision to modify the race route in response to the serious conditions in the mountains. 15 cm of snow has now fallen at 2000m and the UTMB route crosses two passes of over 2500m. The weather is also continuing to worsen so there is not the option to delay as they did in 2010. This is now the third year in succession that bad weather has had a significant affect on the event. The organisers were at pains to emphasis that they still wanted to give everyone a adventurous experience but that in line with the event ethos respect for the mountains and safety came first

The new route was devised almost from scratch last night as the weather forecasts got continuously worse. It now comprises 100km and 6000m of ascent solely in France making it very similar to the CCC although on more sheltered terrain. Briefly the route now follows the original route as far as La Balme before retracing it's steps to Contamine. It then goes directly to Les Houches, follows the Bacon Sud along the northern side of the Chamonix valley as far as Argientiere before returning to Chamonix along the valley floor. The race will now start at 7pm with the winners expected around 5.30 am and a cut off of 9pm on Saturday night

As an illustration of the severity of the conditions the runners will face the CCC experienced a dropout rate of 56% before the race was more than 5 hours old.

To continue telling the story of the challenge of the UTMB I'm still planning to blog the original route descriptions and videos in predicted race time but will interspace this with news of Jez's progress on the new route.

Getting into the UTMB spirit

Bad weather on Mont Blanc (photo not representative of the conditions today!)

The UTMB attracts a diverse bunch of individuals. As we drove towards Chamonix the stories behind their efforts to stand on the start line tomorrow diverted our attention from the torrential rain which was hammering down. There was the UN worker who'd done all her training on a treadmill in the heat of Afghanistan. A 53 year old Japanese gentleman just three years into his ultra career and traveling with his rice cooker. He was hoping his running companion had remembered the rice! There was a Jersey based race organiser who's final qualifying point had come from his own race and Gary who was hoping his experiences as one of only three finishers in the inaugural Spine Race would stand him in good stead for the forecast snowy conditions.

Chamonix was grey and every other person was dressed in lycra but the buzz was starting with less than 24 hours to the off.....